Food and Drink
Many different kinds of food and drink can be found across Westeros, Essos, and the rest of the Known World. As the Seven Kingdoms possess a medieval level of technology, most of their economic activities are agrarian, striving to meet the basic food needs of the population. The majority of the population are poor, common smallfolk working the fields, who usually have only a basic subsistence diet. In the few major cities of the Seven Kingdoms such as King's Landing or Oldtown, the urban poor are outright separated from farmlands which produce foods, and thus if they cannot afford to buy imported food with money, they face a truly meager existence. If they're lucky, the mobs of urban poor and street urchins in slums such as Flea Bottom can obtain enough bread to stave off starvation, supplemented now and again with "bowls o' brown" as a minor meat source. At the other end of the spectrum, wealthy merchants and lords can afford extravagant foods and wines, including exotic spices and ingredients imported from distant areas. Foods .]] baked in the shape of a direwolf for Arya Stark.]] Westeros Basic Foodstuffs *Bread (made from wheat, barley, oats, or rye)"...Provisions, so this city might survive the winter: a million bushels of wheat, half a million bushels each of barley, oats, and rye, 20,000 head of cattle, 50,000 head of sheep." - Olenna Tyrell, "Two Swords" *Eggs *Hard cheese"Breaker of Chains" *Honey (used in Honey cakes) *Milk & cream (used to make cheese and butter) *Olive oil"Two Swords": "Bring him a shaved goat and a bottle of olive oil"- Morgan taunts Oberyn Martell. Produce *Almonds"Breaker of Chains" *Apples"Valar Dohaeris" *Bananas"Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" - Seen loaded on a donkey in the Dornish caravan. *Blackberries"The Rains of Castamere""Dragonstone (episode)" *Carrots"Mhysa" *Crabapples"Sons of Winter" *Figs"Kissed by Fire": "I always take figs mid-afternoon, they help move the bowels."- Olenna Tyrell *Grapes (used to make wine) 's favorite food.]] *Lemons (used in lemon cakes) *Melons"Oathbreaker" *Mushrooms"Mhysa" .]] *Onions"Sons of Winter" *Peas"Book of the Stranger" *Plums"Oathbreaker" *Potatoes"The Prince of Winterfell": "a siege food's worth more than gold. Noble ladies sell their diamonds for a sack of potatoes." -- Bronn *Raspberries"Blackwater" *Sour cherries"The Prince of Winterfell": "You need sour cherries to make it right"- Hot Pie. Meats and Game Livestock: *Beef (domestic cattle meat)"Two Swords" *Mutton (sheep meat)"A Man Without Honor" *Pork (domestic pig meat) **Bacon"The Kingsroad" **Ham"Garden of Bones" **Salted pork"The Rains of Castamere" Wild game: *Frogs (eaten by the Crannogmen in the swamps of the Neck)House Reed (Histories & Lore) *Rabbit"The Bear and the Maiden Fair (episode)" *Venison (deer meat)"You Win or You Die""The Gift" *Wild boar"You Win or You Die" Poultry: *Chicken"Two Swords" *Duck"Breaker of Chains" *Partridge"Walk of Punishment" *Pigeon"The Lion and the Rose" Fish and Seafood: *Various fish **Lampreys"The Prince of Winterfell" *Shellfish **CrabsDavos Seaworth's father was a crabber. **Lobsters"The Wolf and the Lion": "Stannis has the personality of a lobster" - Ser Loras Tyrell scorns Stannis Baratheon. Dishes * Bowl of brown"Second Sons" * Candied almonds."First of His Name" - "Your mother always had a sweet tooth you know...at suppertime, she would always go straight for honey cakes, candied almonds, custard..." -- Lysa Arryn * Candied plums"Oathbreaker" * Custard"First of His Name" - "Your mother always had a sweet tooth you know...at suppertime, she would always go straight for honey cakes, candied almonds, custard..." -- Lysa Arryn *Duck sausage"Breaker of Chains" *Fermented crab"Eastwatch" *Frey pie"The Winds of Winter" *Gingerbread"The Wars To Come" *Honey cakes"First of His Name" - "Your mother always had a sweet tooth you know...at suppertime, she would always go straight for honey cakes, candied almonds, custard..." -- Lysa Arryn *Kidney pie"Mockingbird" *Lamprey pie"The Prince of Winterfell" *Lemon cake"Dark Wings, Dark Words" *Pigeon pie"The Lion and the Rose" *Rabbit stew"Breaker of Chains" It is considered distasteful or disgusting in Westeros to eat dogs, cats, and rats, though people will choke them down if they are starving (due to poverty, military siege, etc.), with a notable example of this being the Siege of Storm's End. They find it somewhat less distateful to eat horses if no other meat is at hand, but it is considered a waste of a draft animal, so they will only eat horse meat if they have no other options."The Prince of Winterfell" People have also been known to eat bears if they manage to kill one during a hunt, though they usually don't seek them out."Lord Snow" People will also eat snakes if they are in the wilderness and there's nothing else to hunt."Sons of the Harpy" Essos *Dothraki dried horse jerky"The Kingsroad" *Duck"Lord Snow" *Goat meat"Lord Snow" *Myrish oranges"The Night Lands" *Pomegranates"Winter Is Coming"- Seen at Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen's wedding feast. *Shellfish (oysters, clams, and cockles) *Stallion heart *Vinegar"Hardhome" *Watermelons"The House of Black and White" - Seen in the waterfront market of Braavos. Wines Westeros pours himself a glass of wine at his wedding to Sansa Stark.]] *Arbor gold - held to be the finest and most expensive wine in all of Westeros"Dragonstone (episode)" *Dornish red - also very expensive fine wine, but an acquired taste for those who like a spicy sour red wine"Hardhome""Stormborn" *Arbor reds"The Lost Lords" *Blackberry wine, homemade"Dragonstone (episode)" Essos *Blackberry wine"The Wars To Come" *Tyroshi pear brandy"You Win or You Die""The Wars To Come": "My mother was a whore, I told you that. She liked to drink pear brandy." -- Daario Naharis, a Tyroshi sellsword. *Sweet reds from Lys and Volantis"You Win or You Die" Other beverages *Ale"Two Swords": "Pour our new friend some ale." - Polliver"Breaker of Chains": "How can a man not keep ale in his home?" - Sandor Clegane *Beer"The Kingsroad": "Bread, and two of those little fish. And a mug of dark beer to wash it down. And bacon, burnt black." - Tyrion Lannister *Dusk rose tea - made from a flower that grows around Slaver's Bay. Used as medicine to ease fever."Two Swords" *Giants milk"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" *Mead"The Red Woman" *Pomegranate juice"High Sparrow" *Rum"The Door""Dragonstone (episode)" *Shade of the evening - a kind of beverage, possibly mild drug, reputed by the Warlocks of Qarth to grant magical abilities. The results are questionable, and repeated consumption stains the lips blue. *"A proper northern drink"- apparently some sort of very strong moonshine served to Jon Snow by Mance Rayder."The Children" Tormund later offers Davos some "sour goat's milk", which might be the same thing."Battle of the Bastards" Behind the scenes s are a favorite treat among noblewomen in the Seven Kingdoms.]] Quite a lot of thought goes into setting up the background set dressing, costuming, and even foods presented in different geographical regions and cultural settings on the TV series. The quality and style of food should logically match the social and economic setting in which it is produced, i.e. the Lannisters living in the capital city of King's Landing can afford more expensive and elaborate foods (including exotic ingredients obtained through trade) than the the kind of foods that the Starks at Winterfell, because the North is a colder and poorer region distant from the capital city. As Set Decorator Richard Roberts explained: :"It's a script led thing, and obviously the action for the scene, and then it has to do with the look of the world they're in, and where they live, the kind of food they'd have, the money they'd have, the facilities."Game Of Thrones: The Artisans - Richard Roberts, Set Director: Food Prep : "King's Landing, it's very opulent. It's a hot sunny country, very colorful, so no expense spared. So we've mixed it with very exotic fruits, which we've ordered especially in, added a lot more color to food, and mixed some things like couscous with colored berries. Still meat and fish, but just to really heighten the colors, with a lot of food coloring in the breads, and saffrons and reds, lot of pinks, and just made it as colorful as possible to look like it's very exotic, opulent, no expense spared food. Which is more the Mediterranean, sunny produce you'd expect."Game Of Thrones: The Artisans - Richard Roberts, Set Director: Food Prep : "Winterfell is far more basic, they haven't got the money, and the produce is different, they're further north. So it's a lot of meat, basically. And we've got some colors into the root vegetables, and things like that, and a little bit of fruit, but less. The fruit is a big King's Landing thing. But up there, it's quite bleak, it's permanent winters, so it's more root vegetables and meat."Game Of Thrones: The Artisans - Richard Roberts, Set Director: Food Prep The Night's Watch, at the Wall, has been in a serious decline for years, and thus it can spend even less money on quality food than Winterfell. While the feast at Winterfell in the first episode didn't have many fruits which grow in warmer climates, it still featured a variety of meats which visually seemed appetizing. In contrast, the producers wanted to show how poor the Night's Watch is by visually emphasizing that the food at Castle Black consists of crusty bread and unpalatable stew: : and his friends are eating rancid lard.]]"The idea for Castle Black is that they're very poor, it's the cheapest cuts of rancid meat you can imagine, made into a very basic stew. And meat stew can look sort of appetizing, it's a dark brown, nice rich gravy, so we gave it a grey, slimy, chewy look. So it looks almost like gloopy whale meat somehow. It's all edible, but again with flour and food coloring to get the blacks and the greys in there, and we we tried all sorts of grisly bits and pieces, without making it too revolting for the actors. So it looks foul, but actually it tastes like real meat stew. But it looks disgusting, it looks like you wouldn't want to touch it. They slaughter animals, chop it up for the stew, so we had a few fiberglass pigs, but most of its fresh in there, which adds in a sort of reality to the set."Game Of Thrones: The Artisans - Richard Roberts, Set Director: Food Prep In the books Themes In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, author George R.R. Martin is famous for including numerous, highly detailed descriptions of food. While sometimes criticized as verging on "food porn", these descriptions are often closely tied to major thematic points. On a general level, they are part of world-building, as wealthier characters and the nobility can afford extravagant feasts, while the poor are begging for basic bread. A major thematic point is that the War of the Five Kings is essentially just an inter-dynastic squabble to the Lannisters (particularly Cersei and Joffrey), but it is causing thousands of peasants whom they've never met to starve to death. In his inner POV narration, Tyrion wryly notes the smallfolk would riot again if they saw how opulent the feast prepared for the royal wedding is. On a broader level, these descriptions help to distinguish geographic regions, or to emphasize just how different or exotic a location is: *Due to its cold climate, agriculture is more difficult in the North than in southern Westeros, and the noble houses of the North are significantly less wealthy than their southron counterparts. As such, food in the North is primarily based on meats (including fish and fowl) and root vegetables, together with certain hardy fruits, nuts, and berries. While Northern lords cannot afford lavish feasts on the same scale as nobles in the Reach, the Westerlands, or King’s Landing, they still make an effort to present abundant spreads. **Meals at the Wall tend to follow this same pattern, but on a smaller and less opulent scale. Many foods also tend to be preserved in some way, such as salted or pickeled, to make them last. Due to its location, the castle of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea tends to incorporate seafoods into the meals for its inhabitants, and occassionly send these foods to Castle Black as well. *The soil of the Iron Islands has never been agriculturally productive, and the Old Way discourages the ironborn from farming at all (such work is for thralls to do). In keeping with their maritime lifestyle, seafood is the basis of most cuisine on the islands. The World of Ice and Fire sourcebook claims that seven out of ten families on the Iron Islands are fisherfolk, and that some priests of the Drowned God only eat fishThe World of Ice and Fire (though it doesn't mention if this comes from a specific religious dictate or is simply a cultural phenomenon). *In southern regions of Westeros, such as the Riverlands and the Reach, agriculture is much easier, so fruits and vegetables are a bigger component of local cuisines. Although individual houses have their own methods of presentation, depending on their personal wealth and the occasion, food is generally prepared in more elaborate ways; cream, sugar, and pastries are fashioned into fanciful shapes, and banquets feature a greater variety of delicacies than seen in the North. Wine is also a greater staple of southern culinary culture, as the Reach produces the finest vintages in Westeros. **This abundance and diversity is especially prominent in the capital of King’s Landing – at least among the wealthy – where meals are served in multiple courses and often feature expensive and exotic ingredients. On the other end of the spectrum, the peasants and poverty-stricken masses in Flea Bottom often struggle to get enough food to survive, typically subsisting on dubious-looking stews dubbed “bowls of brown”. *Dornish cuisine is strongly connected to the region’s climate, and overall seems to be inspired by real-life Mediterranean cuisines; as the only desert on the continent of Westeros, Dorne allows the growth of produce not found elsewhere, such as figs, dates, olives, and citrus fruits such as lemons and blood oranges. Dornish food also tends to be far more heavily spiced than other regions, and “dragon peppers” are a component of many dishes. *The Ghiscari are famously fond of rich foods (including dog sausage, octopus stew, and duck eggs), and it is said that the only meat a Ghiscari will not consume is that of man or dragon (apparently a joke that dragons are too dangerous to ever hunt). *The religion of the Lord of Harmony - practiced on Missandei's home island of Naath - espouses extreme pacifism, to the point that the Naathi are forbidden to kill or eat any animal, even fish, making them complete vegetarians (it is unclear if they are allowed to eat animal by-products that don't involve killing an animal - like milk, cheese, and eggs - or whether they are strict vegans). *The followers of Boash, a now-defunct religion formally practiced in the Free City of Lorath, also did not consume flesh of any kind. On a deeper level, descriptions of foods help to set the tone for an entire scene. Often this is simply pointing out that when times are good, extravagant food is available at feasts, while when times get bad, particularly during military sieges, the only food left sounds foul and awful. At other points in the books, food might be described as terrible even though outwardly the situation seems to be normal, to give a tone of negative foreshadowing. For example, while the TV series didn't mention this, the feast given by the Freys at the Red Wedding (before the ambush began) consisted of disgusting-sounding foods including jellied calf-brains and stringy beef. No religion or culture has ever been mentioned as having dietary laws that forbid the eating of certain kinds of animals but not others, like some real-life religions do (i.e., Judaism and Islam's prohibitions against pork and shellfish or Hinduism's prohibition against beef). The Faith of the Seven, like real-life medieval Christianity, might have some time periods of fasting and abstaining from eating meat in general, particularly among the clergy, but it hasn't been specifically mentioned. Wine and other drinks Westeros In Westeros, grapes for wine making only grow about as far north as the Riverlands. Grapes from the Riverlands are generally small and tart, and though they make drinkable wine, it is not considered to be of particularly high quality. The best wines come from the warmer fields of the Reach farther to the south, particularly from the large island of the Arbor off of its southern coast. Many kinds of wine are produced on the Arbor, but the best is held to be Arbor gold, which is rich and fruity. Arbor gold is very expensive and it is joked that a commoner would sell his own firstborn baby in exchange for a cask of Arbor gold. The Dornish prefer hot spicy meals and strong wines without much sweetness, often sour or mixed with exotic, fiery spices. Dornish sour reds are almost as highly prized as Arbor gold wine. There is some debate about which is the best wine in all of Westeros, though it largely comes down to personal preference: those who prefer sour red wines consider Dornish reds to be the best, but those who prefer sweet white wines consider Arbor gold to be the best. At the Wall, the men of the Night's Watch drink hot mulled wine spiced with cloves and nutmeg (presumably to ward off the cold). After tasting wine at Castle Black, the giant Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun develops an immense liking for it. Apparently, wine is more often drunk by noblemen, while commoners typically drink cheaper ale (though various "winesinks" in the major cities offer cheap, low-quality wine). Due to most of the POV characters in the novels being aristocrats, wine tends to be mentioned more frequently, with cheaper alehouses only mentioned in passing. In the third novel, the Brotherhood Without Banners invites Arya and her companions to have a drink at the Inn of the Kneeling Man. Arya has some commoners' ale at the inn; to her palate, after days of drinking water from brooks and puddles, the ale tastes like wine (despite being a child, her father used to allow her to drink small sips of wine). "Ale" is specifically mentioned in southern Westeros, while "black beer" is more often mentioned in the North - which might indicate that black beer is another name for "lager": "Beer" can be divided into two categories; "ale", which is produced by warm fermentation, and "lager", which is produced by cold fermentation, typically in cold-weather regions. The black beer made in White Harbor is of particularly high quality, and locals can pay as much for it as imported fine wines. Essos Less is known about wines in Essos, but many varieties can be found throughout the continent. Pentos has been mentioned as having its own wines - including a variety known as "pale amber" - so grapes can grow at least that far north. There has been no mention of wine in the other northern Free Cities (Braavos, Norvos, Qohor, and Lorath), and it isn't clear if they can grow grapes to produce their own wine, but other drinks have appeared: the people of Norvos, for example, tend to drink strong black beer, as well as fermented goat's milk. In the southern Free Cities, wine is apparently more common: Volantis produces a sweet red wine, possibly flavored with sweet beets (i.e. sugar beets), a culinary staple of the city; Myr is known for its "green nectar" and "fire wine"; Lys produces sweet wines of both red and white varieties; while Tyrosh is more famous for its pear brandy. These wines are considered pleasant but the cities also extensively import fine wines from Westeros (such as from the Arbor). Conversely, noblemen in Westeros have also been observed drinking imported fine wines from the Free Cities (if they have a taste for them). The Dothraki don't cultivate crops - as plowing or cutting into the earth is considered sacrilege in their beliefs - and as such don't produce their own wine (though they do accept it as trade/tribute); their main alcoholic beverage seems to be fermented mare's milk, from their herds. Slaver's Bay does produce its own local wines but, similar to the Riverlands in Westeros, the small yellow grapes that grow in the region produce a notably inferior vintage, with an unpleasant metallic aftertaste. Aside from grapes, Slaver's Bay also produces wine from other fruits; Daenerys Targaryen samples persimmon wine during her time in Astapor and apricot wine in Meereen. Rich noblemen in Slaver's Bay such as Hizdahr zo Loraq are known to import fine wines from Westeros such as Arbor gold. The Summer Islands produce their own amber wines, with access to exotic local spices, though the islanders also commonly enjoy palm wine (which is made from tree sap, not grapes). The island of Naath used to produce delicate spiced wines that were exported across the Free Cities and the Seven Kingdoms, but the intensified slaver-raids of the past four hundred years since the Doom of Valyria have largely devastated Naath's local industries. Qarth produces a drink known as Dreamwine, which is mixed with strange spices from around the Jade Sea to the east. While in Qarth, Daenerys samples a ruby-red wine that tastes like pomegranates. The Empire of Yi Ti, located on the north side of the Jade Sea, also produces its own wines. Nothing grows in Asshai, much less grapes, though Tyrion does note that Illyrio's private stocks of rare wines includes vintages from both Yi Ti and Asshai - it is possible that Asshai imports raw ingredients but makes its own mixtures with them. New World crops and animals The setting of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels is loosely based on Medieval Europe: Westeros itself is loosely based on the British Isles (expanded to be the size of a continent, with desert regions like Dorne), Essos on Eurasia, and Sothoryos like Africa. This brings up a recurring issue in medieval fantasy literature: New World crops and animals logically shouldn't be present, because the Columbian Exchange hadn't occurred yet, between Europe and the Americas. Real-life crops which originated in the Americas (later exported globally) include: potatoes, tomatoes, maize-corn, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, squash, bell peppers, chili peppers, avocados (from which guacamole is made), cocoa (from which chocolate is made), agave (from which tequilas is made), rubber, and tobacco. Real-life animals which originated in the Americas include turkeys, llamas and alpacas, possums, raccoons, skunks, etc. A problem encountered by J.R.R. Tolkien when he wrote The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954-1955) is that his fictional Middle-earth legendarium is supposed to actually take place in our real-world, simply during a "lost historical era" some six thousand years ago, which predates written history. The continent of Middle-earth (set in the world of Arda) is actually supposed to have turned into Europe, reshaped through various natural disasters into its modern form. However, fans wrote in to Tolkien asking him how New World crops can appear in Middle-earth if it is supposed to be ancient Europe during a legendary past era. Tolkien explicitly stated that Hobbits eat potatoes and tomatoes, and quite prominently mentioned that they smoke tobacco. Tolkien's response was twofold. First, Tolkien removed references to New World crops when he could: the first edition of The Hobbit has Gandalf ask for "cold chicken and tomatoes", but this was changed to "cold chicken and pickles" in the third edition. No subsequent mention is made of tomatoes in the books, and thus the seemingly random appearance of tomatoes in certain scenes during Peter Jackson's film trilogy adaptation of The Lord of The Rings is considered surprisingly controversial in Tolkien fandom. Tolkien, however, either didn't want to entirely eliminate potatoes and tobacco or felt he couldn't easily eliminate them through simple omission. Even when he was first writing the books, as a master linguist Tolkien felt uneasy about using the modern names for these crops, given that they derive from Native American languages which would not have been in contact with ancient Europe. Thus he usually refers to "potatoes" as "taters" (barring a single moment when in frustration, Sam explicitly explains to Gollum that "taters" are "poh-tay-toes!"), and "tobacco" is referred to as "pipe-weed" - it's a kind of weed you smoke in a pipe (some readers got confused on this point, so in the author's Prologue which he attached to subsequent editions, Tolkien explained why he calls it "pipe-weed" and explicitly stated that it is a strain of Nicotiana, the tobacco plant). Second, Tolkien developed the explanation that the Númenoreans brought these crops to Middle-earth from other continents, which they encountered during their numerous exploratory voyages around the world. Númenor is basically the Middle-earth legendarium's version of Atlantis, as it was an advanced civilization located on a large island which was destroyed when it sank into the sea (afterwards, in Elvish, it even became known as "Atalantë", furthering the parallel with Atlantis). The survivors who escaped Númenor's downfall founded the realms of Arnor and Gondor in Middle-earth. The Gondorian's ancestors thus encountered tobacco on a sea voyage to some other distant continent, then brought it to Middle-earth with them, and it eventually spread to the Shire where Hobbits invented the practice of crushing up its dried leaves and smoking them in pipes. Tolkien specifically gave this explanation for how tobacco came to Middle-earth, but it can also probably be applied to other crops such as potatoes. Author George R.R. Martin has stated that Westeros is loosely inspired by England during the War of the Roses during the 1400s, and thus possess a Late Medieval technology level - and, usually, only foodstuffs known to medieval Europe before contact was made with the Americas. Martin has not made an official statement on the subject, but New World crops and animals are rarely if ever mentioned. In particular, tobacco apparently does not exist in Westeros, as no one is ever mentioned to be smoking. Moreover, Martin went so far as to develop a fantasy-equivalent of tobacco, known as "sourleaf", which is chewed in similar fashion to chewing tobacco. However, sourleaf is explicitly not the same thing as "tobacco" just using a different name, the way Tolkien called tobacco "pipe-weed" but acknowledged that "pipe-weed" is really tobacco. Sourleaf is chewed like chewing tobacco and gives a similar mild narcotic effect, however, sourleaf causes a pink froth to form on the lips from its red juices, which if used habitually will turn teeth blood red (Masha Heddle, the innkeeper at the Crossroads Inn, is a heavy user of sourleaf, though this didn't come up in the TV series). Another issue, which Tolkien also encountered, is that Martin frequently uses the word "corn" in the older and generalized sense of "grain". Wheat and barley are both kinds of "corn", just as they are "grains". The crop known as "maize" only comes from the Americas, and is only one kind of "corn" or "grain", but over time the name "corn" has been commonly applied to maize as if it was the plant's proper name. Thus certain stray mentions of "corn" are usually referring to grains in general. There have, however, been a few scattered mentions of New World crops and animals in Westeros. In the second novel, Arya Stark is clearly described as eating maize-corn, on the cob, roasting ears of it in their own husks (while in the riverlands with Yoren). Dornish cuisine prominently features hot peppers - which are not merely "pepper" spices, but clearly New World bell and chili peppers, because they are described as being stuffed. It is mentioned that "pumpkins" grow in both the Vale and the Reach. During the scene in the first novel when Bran Stark is attacked by wildlings while riding (which occurs in Season 1's "A Golden Crown"), Theon Greyjoy was actually distracted from keeping a watch over Bran because he saw a "turkey" in the woods and tried to hunt it.Thanks to the author of A Feast of Ice and Fire for pointing out the confirmed existence of New World crops in Westeros to Game of Thrones Wiki, via Twitter. The TV series has loosely mentioned New World crops several times, which haven't been introduce first in the novels - i.e. in Season 2's "The Prince of Winterfell", Bronn refers to a sack of "potatoes". The books never established that potatoes exist in their world, but given that there are also instances in the books of maize-corn in Westeros, this might not be a very drastic invention relative to the anachronisms Martin already introduced. That being said, unlike J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium, George R.R. Martin has explicitly stated that his fantasy world of Westeros, Essos, and beyond is not supposed to be the same thing as our real-world, just located in the distant past of a lost historical era the way Middle-earth is. For that matter, Martin has also denied that it is located in the far future of the real world, or in the future on a distant planet, which is the revealed backstory for the Dragonriders of Pern and Sword of Shannara series. Westeros is simply on an alternate world with no direct connection to our own, and there happen to be some similarities, but it doesn't necessarily need to follow our world's history. Martin has stated that his stories will never depict an analogous version of the Americas or Australia, and for that matter, he isn't even sure if such analogues exist in their world - there are probably other, unexplored continents, but they might have no exact real-world basis. The only mention of a marsupial animal ever made is Syrio Forel's remark that he saw "tigers that carry their cubs in a pouch" in the menagerie of exotic foreign animals kept by the Sealord of Braavos - apparently describing a thylacine (marsupial tiger), though this doesn't actually confirm or deny if an Australia-like continent exists in their world. As a result, there is nothing outright preventing tobacco from appearing in Westeros, Martin just felt it didn't fit the setting (anymore than steam trains would) - because it isn't directly connected to our real-life world. Thus, chili peppers and maize-corn might simply have always existed in Westeros - just because, and without needing to be transported there from some other continent. See also * * * * *InnAtTheCrossroads.com, a fan blog by two "food enthusiasts" who attempt to recreate foods described in the novels. They are the authors of A Feast of Ice and Fire: The Official Game of Thrones Companion Cookbook (2012), which features an introduction by George R.R. Martin himself. References de:Wein Category:Food and Drink Category:Culture & Society